A Thankful Blizzard Pt. 04

"Get dressed, quickly!" I whispered to Kat. I highly doubted this hotel employed a man with that kind of manner and voice as a maid, least of all one pounding on doors before the sun was even up. Kat scrambled to pull on her clothing as I yanked mine on and gathered up what few belongings we had with us.

"The window?" Kat whispered to me, pointing at the sliding door. We were on the second floor, so we could theoretically jump and land unharmed...

"Open up! Housekeeping!" The voice growled from behind the door. I rushed over, setting the deadbolt and latch as quietly as I could. I grabbed one of the chairs in the room and propped it up underneath the door handle. I hoped that would slow whoever it was down just a little bit.

Kat and I rushed over to the sliding door that opened to a tiny balcony. I peered over the edge, and saw that the drop was a bit too long - on solid concrete nonetheless. As I looked left and right, a thought appeared that we could climb across the small gap to the adjoining room's balcony. If we could get over to the lawn area on our left - or even better, the giant green box housing some kind of electronic equipment - we could probably get down.

A loud sound echoed out of the room, followed by what sounded like a gunshot.

Shit, they weren't messing around this time. That meant going to the FBI offices or police was practically suicidal. But if we couldn't get to the FBI...

Another thud and cracking sound came from the room. We both heard the sound of the latch catching and the voice swearing. I helped Kat onto the balcony and into the next room, closing both balcony doors behind us. It wouldn't take long for the man - or men, we had no way to know how many were here - to get into our room, see that we had already left and assume we went out through the balcony. Our options were running out rapidly, as I heard the door crash open in the room we had been sleeping in just minutes ago. We listened carefully and heard the man opening the balcony door. We moved to the front door, peering out. The fisheye effect of the peep-hole showed me the hallway was clear. The stairs were just in front of the door, but so was an emergency exit. I gauged that the emergency exit would probably be the quickest and safest exit, rather than traipsing through the hotel lobby.

"Ok, Kat? We're going to rush through the emergency exit just outside this door, to the right." She was nodding to everything, somehow maintaining composure. I held three fingers up, then tucked each one down.

We pulled the door open, then as Kat turned to shut it, I barreled into the side exit door. It felt as if the door hit something, which was quickly confirmed by the grunt and sound of someone tumbling down the metal stairs. I peered around the edge of the door to see another man crumpled on the ground at the foot of the stairs, a gun by his side. Holy shit, that was lucky and close - had we gone the other way, he'd have spotted us leaving the lobby and been able to stop us. Racing down the stairs, I reached down, scooping the gun off the ground and tucked it into the pocket of my pants. I didn't really know too much about firearms, but the weight and presence of it made me feel better than being bare-handed.

Peering around the corner into the parking lot, we determined that the two guys we had seen were acting alone, or the other guys with them were hiding and would surprise us anyway, whether we considered them or not.

"Wow, Kat, look. I don't think they knew what vehicle we were driving." I was pointing over to where I had parked the car last night. There wasn't a single car or pedestrian or gardener or anything that looked to be surreptitiously watching the car. "How do you suppose they found us, but don't know what car we drove?"

Kat looked at me and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Think the car is still safe?"

"Well, do we have any other options?" she asked. I looked around. There were no other cars in the parking lot. I didn't feel comfortable walking, so I decided we'd just risk it in the car. We had to act fast, anyway, whether they knew which car we were driving or not

"Nope, let's just get to the car and leave, find a safe place to collect ourselves and think. Ready?"

"Ready, Paul. I love you," Kat added, squeezing my hand.

"Love you too, Kat. Let's go!" Holding Kat's hand, we briskly walked toward the car - a trade-in for a technically stolen car - getting inside without any problems. I checked the controls and everything I could before wondering if I would even notice something awry.

The car started without a hitch, and we were heading down the road. We were silent for about 10 minutes, and after having taken several turns, I let out my breath and let myself relax just a little bit.

"I think we're safe, ok for the moment." I told her.

"That was intense. Paul... you're such a quick thinker. You keep proving over and over that you've got these amazing heroic qualities." Kat had her hand on my knee, was gently rubbing my thigh muscles."And you're my hero - all mine. I didn't even have to find you, you found me."

I felt flattered, that Kat viewed me so highly. And then something clicked.

"Kat... you're a genius! That's how we'll get them!"

She looked at me, completely puzzled. "Huh?"

"You didn't have to find me, I found you." I repeated.

"Yes, and? I don't get... oh! The FBI!"

"Exactly. If we can't get to the FBI... well, we'll just have to find a way to make them come to us."

*****

Author's Ending Words:

Once again, sorry for the delay. I caught a nasty cold that has intense pressure through my head. Next chapter is already in the works. I hope this sickness clears up fast so I can get back to writing quicker. Thanks for reading!